Ocean Tides
by Misty7books
Summary: His entire life, Prince John Laurens had always felt a certain pull towards the ocean. How will be react when he meets a mythical being that there has only ever been rumors about: a mermaid who just happens to go by the name of Alex. Lams! Updates are on my profile!
1. A Hint of Green

_**Chapter 1:**_ _ **(3576 words)**_

A long time ago, back when pirates roamed the oceans like packs of wolves, and kings and queens ruled over the poorer working class, there was something in the oceans.

The pirates knew this; the fishermen knew this; explorers, sailors, those in the navy, all knew this. But what was it? What could it be? Well, whatever it was, there were rumours that whenever sailors got lost out at sea, they were lured by strange mythical creatures, and once they got too close, they were devoured. Ripped to shreds.

Mermaids.

' _What else could it be?'_ thought an extremely bored prince as he walked down the stairs to the kitchen for breakfast.

Really, he should be heading to the dining table to eat with his parents, the Washingtons, and his brother, Lafayette. He and Laf were adopted by the King and Queen when they found out that they couldn't have children.

Sighing, he snuck into the bustling kitchens. Yes, that's right. Kitchens _._ There were four. _Four_! He was used to it. They all were. Mr. Washington had been a prince since he was born, and he married Martha Washington when they were both really young. Lafayette's parents were dukes and duchesses, and he grew up in a large manor. They died when Lafayette was only two, and the Washingtons took him in.

And him? His father was a rich businessman. His mother was dead. His siblings were under his father's custody, in a mansion in one of the edges of the massive coastal city, where docks lined almost the whole coast, though there were some blank areas where the public could enjoy the warm summer afternoons.

He sighed once more.

He was lucky that he was taken in by the Washingtons. It made sense, though. His mother was friends with the Washingtons, and named them his godparents in case anything happened to her, whether his father was alive or not.

Unfortunately, his brothers and sisters weren't so lucky.

His mother had named many different people their godparents, though they were all close so the children wouldn't be separated all that much. Almost all of those had died in the with the same disease that killed his mother, and those that did survive were so traumatised with the deaths that they asked if his father could take the children back.

The Washingtons were the exception. They refused to give him back, since his father had always seemed shady in some inexplicable way.

Luckily, a cure to the spreading disease was found soon after, so his mother was the only victim in his family.

"Prince John?" asked a passing chef. Drat, he was hoping that no one would notice his presence. Honestly, what was he thinking, he was the prince, of course they would realise he was there!

"Yes, hello, Theodosia," he smiled at her once he realised who it was who had spoken. She was one of the best chefs in the castle, and she had always let him sneak some food away to his room. She nodded once she saw how he wanted to be alone.

"Thanks," he rushed and ran to the balcony of his room, though not without taking some croissants with butter on a plate.

He loved his balcony, since it faced the vast ocean.

There was always something about it that attracted him. He felt like it was calling him, to come and search it. He couldn't explain it, and it's happened all his life. For some reason, though, it was stronger than usual.

' _Is something happening today?'_ he pondered as he finished eating his croissant and gazing at the glimmering horizon.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, "Prince John? Are you in there?"

He sighed for the third time in approximately ten minutes and walked from his balcony to the centre of his room, without forgetting to lock the balcony door, so no one would be suspicious. It wasn't that he couldn't go out on the balcony, he just felt like of someone saw him on the balcony, they would know about his weird… attraction to the ocean, and if they knew, they would send him away to an insane camp or something like that, "Yes! Come in!"

The door to his large bedroom opened. His room was decorated with shades of green and blue, mostly because green was his favourite colour and his love of the ocean. The castle tailor walked through, along with his brother.

"Hey, Herc. Lafayette," he greeted with a relieved expression, which quickly turned murderous, "Don't call me that! You freaked me out!"

His two best friends burst out laughing, "Sorry! Sorry!"

He rolled his eyes and sat down on his bed. Those two were the only ones who knew about this strange connection to the ocean, other than the Schuyler Sisters, so he was rightfully worried, "So, why'd you come here?"

"Well, Laurens, we have decided to go out on a date today!" Lafayette squealed. He and Hercules had gotten together four days ago, once they found out about their mutual crushes on each other, though not without a little help from himself and the Washingtons.

"That's great, Laf! So, why'd you come here to tell me?"

"We thought that you might want to go out as well, so Martha and George gave us _all_ permission to leave the castle today," Lafayette explained. The Washingtons were incredibly kind, but were very protective of their children, and they didn't want anything bad to happen to them, so they usually didn't let them leave the castle most of the time, and when they did, he and Lafayette would have to be accompanied by guards at all times, except bathroom breaks, of course. "Also, the Schuylers are coming over for dinner so you should make sure that you're back by then."

He nodded gratefully, "Thanks, Laf! Now, off you go! You should go on your date, and hey! Maybe I'll see you around!"

Lafayette and Hercules nodded, "See you, Laurens!" shouted Hercules over his shoulder, as the two eager teens speed-walked down the corridor.

Laurens chuckled and prepared a bag for his little outing. There wasn't much in it; just a sketchbook, some pencils and an eraser. He would have to bring some food with him, he was going to make the most of his day, and spend it all on the docks looking out at the ocean.

He should also bring a cloak so no one would know who he was, though he would only put it on after he outsmarted and escaped the guards.

"Hey, Theo," he greeted once he had reached the kitchen for the second time that day. He glanced at the clock in the room, and found that it was almost eight in the morning. Perfect! That left the whole day to doing whatever he wanted!

She raised an eyebrow at his hopeful mood, "Hello, Prince John."

He waved a hand at her, "Theo, you can call me Laurens, y'know. You're one of the only people in this castle that I'm friendly with."

Rolling her eyes, she shoved some sandwiches and a flask of water in his bag, though she seemed pleased that she had a friend, "Here, _Laurens._ Take care of yourself, okay?"

"What do you mean?" he asked nervously, "I don't have to do anything, that's the guards' job!"

She raised an unimpressed eyebrow at the answer, "Don't you lie to me, I know exactly what you do."

He sighed, obviously wanting to break the record for the number of sighs that someone does in a day, "Of course I will, Theo. Thanks for not letting me starve!"

"No problem, Laurens!"

He grinned as he raced down the corridor. _'A friend!'_ he hardly makes any of them, always wanting to be alone by the ocean. Most would think that he's super shy, or has horrible social skills, but it was completely the opposite. He had such a short temper, that any sign of homophobia would have him punching the person whose mouth had said such a thing. And he always knew what to say in a social situation.

It was just the ocean that was the problem. He was usually thinking about why he had such a connection, and when he wasn't doing that, he was drawing the gorgeous glittering waves.

"Morning Martha, George," he greeted, and he gave each a hug before announcing that he was going out that day.

"Alright, John. Don't forget to come before dinner, and _do_ try not to lose that temper of yours," Martha reminded him in a motherly way. He felt guilty for replacing his own mother with Mrs. Washington, but she was the only mother-figure in his life at that moment, so he tried to not blame himself for doing something that wasn't really his fault.

George just nodded and gave him a pat on the shoulder, "Be safe, son."

Laurens nodded and gave the two one last hug before racing down the corridor again, though this time it was to the entrance of the castle, where a carriage was waiting for him. He could see another one further down the road. _'That must be Laf and Herc's carriage.'_

"Good morning. May I have permission to take a ride out to the town?" he asked politely, putting his social skills to good use.

The two guards before him nodded and one of them opened the carriage door, letting the young Prince step inside. He was eighteen by that point, with Lafayette at the same age, though Herc was nineteen, and wasn't afraid to shove it in all of their faces.

Once he was a good fifteen minutes away from the castle, which was up on a mountain about half an hour's carriage ride away from the shore, he decided to make his escape. He was halfway to the shore, and would need to walk the rest of the way, but he didn't mind. That way, he would get to see the town from the perspective of the lower-classes.

He stood up, though secured himself so that he wouldn't go flying if the carriage hit a stone on the road or something like that. Once properly secured, he opened his bag and checked if everything was still there, and seeing that it was, he put on the dark brown cloak. He opened the hatch on the roof and jumped up so that he was standing on top of the carriage.

Checking that the guards hadn't realised yet, he then jumped off, though not before closing the hatch.

"Yes, I did it!" he celebrated, though quietly so that the villagers and townsfolk wouldn't be suspicious. Luckily, no one had noticed him jump off of the carriage. He walked to the docks, taking almost an hour because he liked to stop and see the many little shops around the town, and buying something so that the people who worked there wouldn't starve. Though the Washingtons were wonderful monarchs, there had been many food shortages after the small outbreak of the disease when he was incredibly young, since most of the farmers had died. Therefore meaning that there was a decrease in large balls, though he and his family never starved.

Eventually, he reached the docks, and his urge to approach it doubled. He knew he couldn't though. How would he explain that?

Never mind, he walked to the very edge of one of the docks which didn't have any ships, and breathed in the salty sea air. His urge to jump in lowered slightly, and he sighed in relief. Wow, what was that, the fourth or fifth of the day? He chuckled to himself and took out his drawing equipment, and drew the ocean for what must have been the millionth time in the course of his life.

Unfortunately, a boat stopped on the dock he was on, and on that boat just happened to be the most annoying person that he could think of: Thomas Jefferson. Honestly, he should run away before he exploded from rage.

Thinking that what he thought of previously was a brilliant plan, he ran for it. Sadly, the captain of the ship stopped him, "You, boy? We're do you think you're going?"

"Uhh, home?" Laurens answered.

"Captain Seabury? What is the matter?" questioned the annoying person. He didn't deserve to have his name thought of.

"Duke Jefferson! Err, this young man was just making his way home's all," Captain Seabury bowed pathetically. Jefferson just rolled his eyes.

"Off you go. Shoo!" he mocked. Laurens, though they didn't know that, simply nodded and ran off to another dock, far from the one he was just on. He didn't want to get in a fight and reveal who he was, though his temper almost got the better of him.

He walked along the pier, wanting to go down to the sand so that no one would find him until he would have to go back. He had been drawing for a good few hours, and the sun was burning bright in the sky, signalling that it was midday. Finally, he was at the very edge of the town, where there were almost no docks, since there were so many rocks sticking out of the water. They were all soaked from the waves, though the water had calmed down, and the sun was evaporating most of it.

Laurens strolled peacefully down to the very edge of the sand, where the calmed waves lapped against his ankles, since his feet were being buried by the waves pushing sand on them.

The movement of the water was peaceful, and suddenly, the urge to go in the ocean grew so strong that he couldn't take it anymore. It's not that it hurts, it's more like when you're really hungry, practically starved, and you see food, or if you're really itchy and you're trying to resist. There's no point, really.

Walking back out of the ocean and towards a large rock in the sand, he took off his bag and he hid it behind the stone so that no one would steal it, though it's not like there's anyone there to steal it in the first place.

He was wearing long trousers, but he rolled them up to his knees, and he was wearing a white shirt, though he always undid the top button so that he wouldn't suffocate. He took off his shoes and socks and placed them with his bag. Laurens waded through the water, though not any further than up to his knees; the servant who has to wash clothes would be furious if he got salt in his clothes.

There was a rock that had fallen down so it was flat in the water, and was quite low in the water too, so that the waves could wash over part of it slightly.

Seeing it as a good place to sit down, he climbed on it, though it wasn't that difficult, and he looked out at the ocean.

Feeling the waves hit his leg and the taste of the salty sea air on his lips dulled down the urge. Why was it so strong today? He wasn't sure, but he was quite worried that it would grow so much that he wouldn't be able to resist one day. It worried him immensely. What if they threw him in an insane camp? What if he never got to see Laf, or Herc, or the Schuyler Sisters, or George and Martha again? Even worse, what if George and Martha are the ones that sent him there? That would break him.

Suddenly, he felt a pull, as if his urge to go to the ocean was literally trying to tug him into the ocean.

Looking into the water, he thought he saw a hint of green in the forever murky blue. But the urge was so strong that he was worried what would happen if he stayed, so he stood up and ran off of the rock, back onto land, and all the way to his bag.

He rummaged inside and brought out a small pocket watch that he never actually put in his pocket. It said that it was almost five in the afternoon. Looking up to see where the sun was, he saw that the watch was correct. Drat! How long had he been there staring at the ocean? He should really get going now. Usually, dinner was at eight, but since there would be company that day, dinner would be at seven, and it took quite a while to walk there.

He waited for his legs to dry, and when they did, he rolled his trousers back down. He buttoned the top button of his shirt, and he put on his socks and shoes again, too. Of course, he put on his cloak so no one would see him, and he made his way to his castle.

The carriage he took when he left was just pulling up when he got there, "Oh, good afternoon, guards." He then ran for it, all the way to his room.

Laurens dressed up for the dinner, knowing full well that the Duke Schuyler and his three daughters were rich, almost as rich as the Washingtons, and that their clothes would be very expensive looking, so he had to look good too. Isn't that how it always worked?

He then heard a knock at the door, the servant behind it was telling him that Laf and Herc had arrived, as well as the Schuylers.

Not long afterwards, he heard multiple pairs of feet running up the stairs to his room. "Laurens!" they all greeted after he opened his door and flopped back onto his bed.

He rolled his eyes but hugged all of his friends anyway. "So, what did you do on your date?" he asked Laf and Herc.

He and the Schuyler Sisters sat on his bed while the two in a relationship - well Angelica had an arranged marriage with some guy, he wasn't that fun to be around, so she convinced him to let her go to her family for the summer – stood up and told the story of how they wandered around the town and they went to a bar and drank a bit, though they are both really heavyweight, so it's fine.

After they had finished the story of their date, they all asked him what he had done. He gulped, but tried to let go of his fear, since they already knew about his attraction to the ocean, "I went by carriage, which I snuck out of, and I had a cloak to hide my identity, but, well, since this morning, my… thing with the ocean had been stronger than usual, so I couldn't help but go to the docks and draw, and then Jefferson came by! And…"

He told them what had happened with the water, but left out how he thought he saw something green in the water. It couldn't be anything anyway, right? He could have just seen some seaweed! _'But seaweed is so much darker, the green I saw was a kind of… a shamrock green, just a bit more vibrant than Kelly green_ **(A/N: My friend prides herself on knowing lots of different colours, so I didn't actually have to search this online. Thank you if you're reading this!)** _, so maybe I did see something.'_

He looked deep in thought when he finished his story, though his friends just thought that he was feeling overwhelmed with his connection to the ocean. Angelica assured him, "It's okay, Laurens. We're here to help you with resisting the ocean's pull."

"Of course, if you need help, you can just send us a letter with one of the palace hawks," Eliza told him. He nodded at her words and the group had another hug again. Soon, though, there was a knock at the door, and dinner would be starting soon, "Come on, let's go."

 _ **(-Line break!-)**_

Dinner had just finished.

Not much had happened, the two families had spoken about the laws of the country, and especially the town. It had been decided that Mr. Washington was going to go to another town in the small country, and he wouldn't be back until a couple of weeks later. There were some criminals that needed to be dealt with and that was one of the closest towns to the border of another country, where George would try to keep peace with them.

The good thing was that it made it easier for Laurens to sneak out. He knows he really shouldn't but he really wanted to go back to the fallen stone, to see what that green thing could have been. There was a possibility that he really was just imagining it, but he doubted it.

Determined to find out what the green thing was, and with the urge of the ocean helping, Laurens decided to go back the following day.

Anyways, as he stood outside with Lafayette, Mrs. Washington, Herc, and Theodosia, who had come outside as well, he looked to the two retreating carriages, one with the Schuylers, and one with the King. He thought of a getaway plan, and as the remaining family went back inside, he whispered to Theodosia of his plans.

She agreed to help him, and he awaited the following day, where he would possibly find out what that green thing must have been.

 **A/N: Just for your information, I know that Philip Schuyler had more than just three girls, but I'm just going to pretend for now that he did only have three. Also, here are all of their birthdays:**

 **Alexander Hamilton - 11** **th** **January 1757  
John Laurens - 28** **th** **October 1754  
Lafayette - 6** **th** **September 1757  
Hercules Mulligan - 25** **th** **September 1740  
** **Aaron Burr - 6** **th** **February 1756  
Theodosia Bartow - November 1746**

 **For this story, I'll be making them all the same age, at eighteen, with Theodosia, Angelica and Mulligan at nineteen, to make up for how old they are compared to the others in real life, and since Angelica is older than Eliza and Peggy. Hamilton and Laurens will be the youngest out of all of them, since I feel like their birthdays were recent, other than Peggy who will be seventeen.**

 **So, this chapter, we learn that Laurens was adopted by the Washingtons and all that, and that he is super rebellious, though not many know** _ **that,**_ **other than the Schuylers and Herc and Laf, and soon to come… Alex!**

 **Anyways, we also know that mermaids exist. Yup, seems pretty important to me!**

 **See you at some point eventually, I guess!**

 **Enjoy!**


	2. Forbidden Friendship

_**Chapter 2:**_ _ **(4826 words)**_

He woke up earlier than usual, the distinct green still present in his mind.

Laurens was aware that he was becoming slightly obsessive, but what else was he supposed to do? Sooner or later, he was going to be in an arranged marriage, and before the dreaded day comes, he wants to do as much as possible. If that was to discover the truth of the green mystery, then so be it.

It was about five, according to his clock, and he knew that no one else would ever be up this early, except maybe the chefs, preparing breakfast for the royal family. Luckily, Theodosia was one of them.

He ran as quietly as he could to the kitchens, his bag was already packed with the cloak, the pocket watch, and drawing equipment, not that he would be doing much drawing, and he was already dressed.

"Theo!" he whisper-shouted once he entered the kitchen. It was so early that there were hardly any chefs in there, and those that were in there already were used to seeing the youngest prince burst in at the most ungodly hours.

"Hey, Laurens," answered the woman he was looking for. "I've prepared some food, so here," she told him, and gave him one sandwich and a small flask of water.

"Why's there so little food?" he asked her, pouting childishly.

"Because, you're supposed to be back by midday, so you just need breakfast," she explained to him and he rolled his eyes.

"Thanks, Theo. I'll be right back," he rushed and he sprinted back up to his room, just to see if he had forgotten anything. Seeing that he hadn't, he raced back to the kitchens, seeing that it was at the ground floor. "Uhhhhhhh, Theo?"

"Yes?" she questioned, deep in thought.

"Help me out!"

Looking at him, and towards the window, she groaned and nodded.

"Okay, okay," she helped him stand on top of the counter, continuously muttering about how she would have to clean it all again. He managed to jump out of a window, though to get back in, he would have to climb a tree.

He called from outside, "I'll be back by around midday, so try and distract my family if they come looking for me, okay?"

She nodded, though he couldn't see that, and replied, "Sure thing! See you later!" As he made his way to the same rock he had seen the previous day, Theodosia murderously glared at the few chefs that were in the kitchens, daring them to tell someone about the adventurous prince. Luckily, most, if not all, of the people who work at the castle, and the royal family, knew about the wrath of young little Theodosia the chef. She sure knew how to pack a punch, no wonder she and Laurens got along so well.

 _ **(-Line break!-)**_

It was about half seven by now, if he wanted to get back at the castle by midday, he would have to leave at around nine or ten, so he had approximately two or three hours to investigate.

He took off his shoes and socks, and the cloak, and placed it all with his bag behind the same rock as yesterday. He then rolled up his trousers to his knees, so that he wouldn't get them all that wet. The button at the top of his white shirt was already unbuttoned, he never did it in the first place if possible, it wasn't enough space to breathe at all! Walking into the oceans until the water got up to his knees, he shivered; the water was freezing! How could fishermen stay for hours in the water? Honestly?!

Once he was on the fallen rock, he peered over the edge to see if he could see any green there at all, but there was nothing. Oh, how could he have been so foolish! Of course it was just him making it up! He was only good for mistakes, wasn't he? Tears had begun to make their way down has face as his negative thoughts only darkened.

"Um, hello," something mumbled behind him.

He was so shocked that he jumped, and he was so close to the edge of the large fallen rock that he fell off. The ice-cold water wrapped around him, but he couldn't feel the urge of the ocean at all. _'What? I've been in the ocean before, why has it disappeared?_ This was even more of a mystery than whatever that green thing was, even if it was nothing.

The waves were a lot stronger than the previous day, and it was making it very difficult to come up for air- wait. What was that? Was that… _green_? Yes! Yes, it was!

He… he could feel himself falling unconscious, there was… something coming at him, it's arms… outstretched… Wait, arms…?

 _ **(-Line break!-)**_

The previous day, a young merman gazed longingly out of one of the large palace windows.

Well, really, they were large holes in the wall, in a shape that an actual window would have, but with the absence of glass, it remained as it was: a hole in the wall.

He was extremely bored.

All he wanted to do was sneak out of the ocean palace so that he wouldn't have to talk to his annoying co-worker, Burr, and so that he could go and see the human world.

Everyone always told him horrible stories about humankind, how they would catch merpeople back in the day, and rip out their guts to use in evil magical potions to kill the ocean and the creatures in it. Maybe the stories were exaggerated slightly, but he didn't care, he wanted to see what humans were really like, no matter the risk. His curiosity just kept getting the better of him.

He was what everyone would call _non-stop_ , a never-ending hurricane of words and arguments and noise. He lived to fix the world, especially ever since he saw his mother succumb to the disease that the humans were dealing with a while back. Merpeople never found a cure, and it survived in the oceans until recently, since they found the cure a couple of years ago.

His mother always told him that humans were wonderful, smart, interesting creatures, and they were just as smart as them! There aren't that many creatures who were, and he had never found someone as loud-mouthed and intelligent as him.

Set in his decision, he escaped through one of the many windows of the palace, and he swam as far as his long green tail could take him.

He wasn't sure what kind of green it was, but he liked it. It was bright and smart-looking, just like him, and it was a lot better compared to the usual dull murky blue of the ocean that most merpeople had. The only ones he knew who had different coloured tails were Burr, who's tail was midnight blue, and one of the other servants called Maria, who had a vibrant dark red tail.

He had befriended her once he saw how poorly the majority of the mermaids treated her. All three of them, him, Maria, and Burr were servants to the infamous King George III, though Burr was slightly higher up then him and Maria. The King had a murky blue tail like the rest, but painted it bright red to show how he was above the rest. The paint came from crushing red seaweed, and mixing it with seawater and clay. It was shiny and expensive-looking, just how he wanted it.

Yes, Alexander Hamilton wasn't like the other merpeople.

He stood up for himself, unlike the others, though Maria could be a feisty little mermaid sometimes. He rolled his eyes. Even though he liked her and all, one feisty mermaid wasn't enough for him. He wanted to show them all how wrong they had been, starting with the humans. If he could prove them wrong with something so big, he could definitely do everything else.

"Alex!"

Drat, he thought he had shaken off everyone. Oh well, it was only Maria, she was safe. "Hey, Maria."

"Alex, what are you doing?"

He gulped, he wanted to go alone, but he guessed that Maria wouldn't back off until she knew what he was going to do, and if she knew what he was going to do, she'd want to come too. "I'm going to the surface."

Gasping, she covered her mouth with her hand, "Alex… that's forbidden. You know that."

"Yeah, I do, but when had that ever stopped me?" he sassed at her.

She rolled her eyes and smirked at him, "Can I come?"

"Of course," he assured her and the two friends, arguably the only friend that they each had, swam excitedly to the surface of the ocean. Though, just before they broke through, Maria tugged on his arm. "What's wrong?"

"What if there is a human there?!" she whisper-shouted, looking paranoid as she glanced up at the sun beams coming through the water.

"Maria, it's going to be fine. Look," and he pointed his finger up at the surface, his bright green tail swishing back and forth. Maria nodded, but went to hide behind one of the tall rocks so that she would be safe.

Alex just rolled his eyes at her antics. _'Of course it will be fine! No humans ever come to this spot,'_ he thought to himself confidently. There was nothing to fear. Nothing at all.

He swam closer to the surface, though he didn't come any closer to it than a few meters. He then saw a weird blob. It looked pale, but there was some brown all around it. Wait… a human!

His eyes widened, and he turned right back around and swam to Maria. In his haste to get away, his tail swished rather violently back and forth. Hopefully, the human didn't see him. "Alex? Didn't you want to go to the surface?"

"Yeah, but you're right. It's better to be safe than sorry. C'mon, let's go back to the palace," he told her, trying to hide his surprise and interest in the human he had just laid his eyes upon. It was possible that he was just making all of this up, and what he saw was something else entirely, but he was certain that he had just seen a human.

Wow, if any of the merpeople found out that he had just seen a human, he would probably be thrown in prison.

It's not that merpeople were anything like the humans' stupid stories about them luring sailors and them devouring them, those were the sirens, and most of them respected sailors and humans enough to let them pass. Rarely any of the sirens ate humans anymore. Anyways, it was because all of the merpeople were terrified of the humans and what they could do to them. Don't they realise that humans probably think the same thing about them?! It's crazy, he decided, and he wanted to fix the bridge between merkind and humankind. Think of how beneficial it could be!

They would throw him in prison if they thought he was in cahoots with the humans. He would never see Maria or Burr, who had had begun to see as an annoying and boring older brother, even if they were the same age, again.

He sighed, and wondered if humans sighed too.

 _ **(-Line break!-)**_

"Alex, we're almost there. C'mon, we have to sneak back in without anyone realising it," she told him as he saw a shimmer of light reflected off of the tall shiny towers of the royal palace. "Hopefully, they didn't realise that we were gone."

"Why would they, we're just lowly servants, but maybe they would have realised if we were gone if they just…"

"No, Alex. You talk about this every day! King George will never make you his right-hand man. You just need to give up on that dream," Maria sternly told him, and he pouted childishly at her words. She rolled her eyes and told him softly, "It's not that you don't have the smarts or the willpower, if anything, you have too much of both, but it's because King George is just not like that. We should be grateful for what we have right now, and hope for a better future."

Her words struck a chord in him, and it reminded him so much of his mother that he felt like he was suffocating. He stopped swimming as tears began to leak out of his eyes, though since they were in the water, you couldn't really tell.

Maria stopped swimming too, to give him a pat on the shoulder, "You're like a brother to me, Alex. I care about you, and I won't lie to you. King George is too mean to do that," she stroked his hair in a motherly way, and he nodded into his hands which were covering his face, tears still invisibly leaking out of his eyes.

"C'mon, we need to go," she told him, and the two swam the rest of the way to the palace. Luckily, or in a way, unluckily, no one realised like they were gone.

 _ **(-Line break!-)**_

Alex was sweeping the floor with a broom made of seaweed and a stick, but he just couldn't focus. His mind kept going back to the human he saw the previous day.

Deciding that he couldn't focus, he dropped the broom and snuck out into the kelp forest. Whenever he wanted to think and not be found, he snuck into the massive kelp forest right next to the royal palace. This time though, he still couldn't think.

He then realised that the only way he would be able to do anything is if he went up to the surface again. It was the only way. And hey, maybe the human would be there!

Set in his decision, he swam sneakily to the surface. It would be a lot easier to sneak out if his tail blended in with the ocean's murky blue texture, but he wouldn't give away his wonderful green tail away for the world. It was one of his mother's favourite things about him, other than his never-ending mouth and ideas. She always told him that it represented his uniqueness and intelligence, and that he should be proud to have been blessed with such a tail.

He went to the servant quarters, and snuck out of a window there. It was one of the highest points of the castle. To merpeople, the higher you go, the more dangerous it will be, so all of the most important parts of the castle are at the very bottom, where it is safer.

Anyways, he went to the same place as yesterday, though instead of going to the part of the rock that goes out the furthest from land, he went to the part closest to land.

Quietly, he broke through the surface, and saw, what could arguably be, the most beautiful person he had ever seen.

They hadn't noticed him yet, since they were looking into the water on the other side of the stone. Were those… tears? That's not good. Alex decided that he couldn't just let the gorgeous angel he had laid eyes on to cry alone, so he broke the most strict and important rule to merkind. He spoke to a human

"Um, hello," he mumbled, unsure of himself.

The human seemed so surprised that he fell off of the stone. _'Oh no! Can humans swim?! Well, better be safe than sorry!'_ he decided to go after the human,

Swishing his tail back and forth as fast as merpersonly possible, he stretched out his arms to grab the human and pull him back up. The human had long brown hair and it was all curly. It surrounded his face like a halo, and Alex almost stopped to admire him. He blushed immensely, but didn't stop, since the human could die.

The human's eyes closed, and looked like he lost consciousness. _'Can humans not breathe underwater?'_ Alex thought curiously. No matter now, he was tugging the human back onto land. The rock was slightly too high for him to drag the human onto, so he swam onto the sand, and then dragged himself and the human up until halfway up the beach, until they were behind a large rock where there was… something. It kind of looked like flat seaweed, but smoother and lighter. The human had it on as well, though Alex didn't know why. It seemed warm enough without having those things on, so it couldn't be warmth. Maybe it _was_ for warmth, and the humans were just a lot colder than merpeople. That could make sense.

Stopping his thoughts, the human, which Alex had laid down next to the things there, began coughing a lot, and water was coming out of its mouth. _'Is that supposed to happen?'_ Alex had never heard stories of humans who coughed up water, so he assumed that no, it's not supposed to happen.

Alex felt incredibly guilty.

He didn't mean to almost kill the first human that he had ever come across, and he did it by announcing his presence to the human. Maybe the law really _was_ there for a reason.

His thoughts were stopped once again as the human stopped coughing and sat up. They looked around until he came across himself.

 _ **(-Line break!-)**_

A… a mermaid!

They really exist?! He thought he must have died; mermaids _don't_ exist, last time he checked.

"Uhh, what are you?" He had to make sure. Just to see if he was hallucinating. The last thing he remembered was falling into the water and seeing something with arms and… _green_! The mermaid! It has arms! And a… a shamrock green tail! In the light, it looked so… green! It was his favourite colour, and it calmed him down enough to not freak out as much as before.

As the mermaid, or, well, mer _man_ , raised an eyebrow and motioned his hand towards his tail, a look of _'Seriously?'_ on his rather gorgeous face. Were all mermaids this beautiful- wait, what? He's never thought anything like that for anyone before. Well, sure, he could tell when someone looked attractive, but he himself had never been _attracted_ to someone before. It must just be because it was a mermaid. "Well, I'm a merperson."

He raised an eyebrow, "Merperson?"

The mer _person_ looked at him in confusion, but then had a look of understanding after a second or so, "Oh, you humans are always so sexist. My species is of merpeople or merkind, but I myself am a merman."

John nodded dumbly at the merman. He was still in shock from having a conversation with a mermaid about sexism. "So, you don't have much sexism in the ocean, do you? Sorry if I offended you!" he added after a second.

The merman gave him a small smile and replied, "No, we don't have much."

It seemed deep in thought- well, calling it… uh, _'it'_ , it would probably be better to call it _'he'_. John suddenly remembered the scary stories that he had heard all his life. "Uhh, you're not going to eat me, are you?"

The merman actually had the nerve to laugh at his tense posture and freaked out facial expressions. "No! Honestly, I don't know why humans think that merpeople would want to do that. It's the sirens who do all of that 'hunting down and eating humans' thing!"

"Soooooo, I shouldn't go anywhere near a siren?" John asked nervously.

The merman just waved a hand at him, "Most sirens don't do that anymore. Now, they respect humans and let them pass. Only very few sirens still eat humans, and they're quite far from here, so no need to worry, you can stop looking like you're having a heart attack. Wait, you're not having a heart attack, are you?"

Now it was the merman's turn to look worried, and it actually made John blush for the care that the merman was displaying, "Are all merpeople so caring?"

 _ **(-Line break!-)**_

Alex blushed just as hard as the human was. ' _Hmm, guess both humans and merpeople blush like crazy, or maybe it's just us two,'_ Alex thought, but as he looked at the human, he saw the blush on it go _everywhere_! It went from the tips of his ears all the way down to his neck. Alex thought he looked quite cute, but he took that thought back straight away. Though merpeople aren't homophobic at all, since mermen could become pregnant as well, he was having these thoughts for a _human_.

He couldn't, it was just… destined to not work out. So, for now, Alex decided to not do anything about his feelings for once in his life. "Uh, no. Not really."

"Then you why are you so worried, and no, I'm not having a heart attack," the human replied, and he put a hand on Alex' shoulder, making him blush some more. Unlike the human, when he blushed, it just went to his cheeks, but it darkened very much.

 _ **(-Line break!-)**_

John gazed at the merman, taking in his appearance. He had very dark brown hair, it almost looked black, and since he spent so much time in the water, his hair was slicked back. It was quite long, just as long as his own, but it was straight whereas his own was curly. The merman had large brown eyes, and at first glance, they looked pretty plain, but when you looked closer, you could see thousands of different shades of gorgeous brown, and John wondered again if that was just a mermaid feature.

He had put a hand on the merman's shoulder, which made the merman blush very hard, and John felt himself acquiring a rather destructive crush. He couldn't like the merman, how could that work? John didn't know what to do, so for now, he ignored those feelings and decided to listen to what the merman was saying.

"Well, it was kind of my fault that you fell off of the rock over there," he pointed to the rock that he had fallen off of, "so I guess I feel bad. Sorry."

The merman looked so ashamed of himself, he was looking down at the sand in front of him, and John just wanted to reach out and pull the merman into a hug, which is exactly what he did.

"Uhh, what's this?" the merman asked curiously.

John rolled his eyes and responded, "It's called a hug. I don't know why humans do this, but it's a sign of friendship, soooooo…"

Pulling out of the hug, the merman gave John the biggest smile that the prince had ever seen before. The merman then stuck out his hand and asked John, "Hello, human. My name is Alexander Hamilton. What's your name?"

John grinned at the merman. No, _Alexander._ "Well, Alex- Oh, can I call you Alex? Alexander is soooooo long!" he exaggerated. John was delighted. He had wanted to know the merman's name the second he set eyes on him, to be honest. And now that he knew it, he saw that it fit the merman perfectly. Smart and impressive, just like the merman.

Alexander rolled his eyes and told him, "Alex is fine. I actually prefer it; Alexander really is too long, isn't it?"

 _ **(-Line break!-)**_

Alex was grinning from ear to ear.

He was smiling so much that he was sure that his face would rip in half with how much he was stretching it. But he didn't care; he had made a friend. His second friend! Now, he loved Maria and all, but he was really proud of himself for making a new friend.

The human nodded at his words and smiled gleefully at himself, "My name's John Laurens! Everyone calls me Laurens if they're my friend, but you can call me John, if I can call you Alex! Also, uh, I'm the… uh, the prince." He had mumbled the last part.

Alex' eyes widened as he nodded, "Really? Well, that's great! You can help me!"

John looked confused at that last part and raised an eyebrow at the enthusiasm. Alex just waved a hand at him and explained, "Everyone always says that humans are these horrible creatures, and all of the merpeople are scared of humans and what they could do to them, but then I realised that humans probably feel the same way."

John was nodding along to everything he said, and he was glad. It meant that he could possibly help. "You're the prince," Alex continued, "You're influential, right? You can convince everyone that merpeople are harmless. Well, we're not harmless, but neither are humans. Well, I didn't mean to be rude but you guys could kill us all really quickly, but so could we and just…Ugh, you know what a mean…"

He was blushing a lot in embarrassment, but John didn't seem to mind, which was good. He was trying to ignore his crush on him, but it was proving to be very difficult when John was looking at him like that.

John nodded and told him, "I'd be happy to help. I don't have that many friends, you see. So, I'd love to help one of my only friends. Also, think of the benefits if merpeople and humans worked together!"

 _ **(-Line break!-)**_

Alex was grinning so happily at him, and it was making him blush. He looked rather upset when he said that he had little friends, but he tried to ignore it.

It was then that he realised his urge for the ocean was… non-existant. How is that even possible? It's never stopped at all before. Oh well, no time to dwell on it now, he went to search in his bag for his pocket watch, and Alex watched with confusion and curiosity. The pocket watch said that it was about half nine. He really should be going back by now, but, well, he didn't really want to go back yet.

"John, I'm so glad we think the same, I've never met anyone who's thought similarly to me," Alex grinned at him, and John felt his entire face, and neck too, heat up.

"I'm glad too Alex, but I've got to go back home now."

Alex deflated a bit.

"Don't you have a home?" John asked worriedly, though he tried to hide it as much as possible.

Alex shrugged, "I _do_ , I guess. I live in the royal palace. I work as one of the servants. It kinda sucks, but I deal with it. Me and Maria, my only friend, well, other than you," they grinned at each other, "keep each other company, but the King's really mean. I don't really think I ever thought of it as a home."

Pouting, Alex crossed his arms, while John patted his arm comfortingly, "Can we meet up again tomorrow?"

Suddenly, Alex' pout had disappeared and he was smiling cheekily at him, "I'd love too!"

John nodded, and helped get Alex back into the water, "So, are you okay to go?" Alex nodded and returned the very same question, of which John responded with the positive. "Okay. Oh, hey, Alex?"

"Yeah?"

"You can bring Maria tomorrow if you want. I really have to get going, sorry," John apologised, and fixed his clothing to what it was when he left the castle, though he buttoned the top button of his shirt this time, since people will be awake to see him, and he needed to be presentable.

"Okay, and you can bring your friends too, y'know," Alex teased, which made John blush, so that's nothing new at all. "Goodbye, John. It's nice to meet you!"

John nodded and grinned at him. He put on his cloak and began to walk away, but not before turning back towards Alex and waving goodbye to him, which the beautiful merman, in John's opinion anyway, returned.

"Bye, Alex!"

And the two separated, with Alex swimming undetected to the royal palace and telling Maria all that had taken place, including his crush of the gorgeous human, while John walked all the way to the castle, but had arrived at around one in the afternoon since he was so busy thinking of a certain merman, though he didn't say this to a worried Mrs. Washington. He told Theodosia everything that had happened, also including his crush on the merman, but he didn't tell anyone else since Lafayette and Hercules were just so sickeningly sweet that he couldn't bear being in the same room with them. Well, at least without thinking of what it would be like if he and Alex acted like that, and his face always burned bright red whenever that happened. And that would be rather suspicious, wouldn't it?

John grinned into his pillow as the sky darkened outside his window. He couldn't wait for tomorrow.

 **A/N: I use commas way too much. Oh well, that's nothing new.**

 **This chapter is absolutely massive! I just had a stupidly large spurt of inspiration and I wrote all morning, and into the afternoon too! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter of our two blushing children. Honestly, I love these two so much! They're just soooooo adorkable! 3**

 **This chapter, we've had a near death experience for Laurens, and had the two main characters meet and** _ **like**_ **like each other. ;D**

 **See you next chapter!**

 **Enjoy!**


	3. Growing Emotions

_**Chapter 3:**_ _ **(2764 words)**_

"Good morning, Laurens," said someone, as the youngest prince in the kingdom sleepily opened his eyes to come face to face with an excited chef.

"Hi, Theo. What are you doing here so early?" he mumbled into his pillow since he turned around in his bed and stretched like a cat.

"I'm just soooooo excited! I'm going to meet a merman!" she squealed, though quietly since Lafayette's room was right next to John's.

"And a mermaid, maybe," he corrected as he stood up and shooed the impatient girl out of the room so he could dress up and prepare his bag, though once again, he wasn't going to be drawing much. Once he was finished with his bag, he opened his door to find that Theodosia wasn't there. He just rolled his eyes and walked to the kitchens, where Theo was gathering food for their outing.

Since they would both be going this time, they woke up even earlier than the previous day to make it back by ten in the morning. Any later and Mrs. Washington would practically have guards following him 24/7 and she would board up all of the windows. He knew that she had good intentions, but she was way too protective.

"C'mon," she impatiently ordered him, and the two walked to the same shore as the previous two days, though it was Theodosia's first time there. She wasn't wearing a cloak like him, since no one knew who she was.

Once they arrived at the beach, Laurens did his normal routine of rolling up his trousers and taking off his socks, shoes, and cloak, while Theodosia took off her socks and shoes as well.

As the two walked into the ocean, Theodosia held up her servant dress, and Laurens helped her up onto the flat rock in the water. "Look out for something green in the water," he suggested, and explained how that was the colour of the merman's tail.

Suddenly, after about a quarter of an hour of waiting, Alex jumped out of the water and pulled himself onto the rock, and a mermaid popped her head out of the water, though she seemed afraid to come out any further. "Hi, Alex!" John greeted excitedly, while the mermaid and Theodosia shared a glance and a raised eyebrow at his enthusiasm.

"Hi, John!" the merman, apparently called Alex, enthusiastically returned the greeting, but Theodosia interrupted soon after.

"Woah, woah, woah! Hold up! He gets to call you _'John'_ and I don't?" she asked Laurens, while the mermaid bobbed back down into the water and returned a few seconds later with another merman.

"Yes, Theo," John rolled his eyes playfully at his friend. "So, we should do introductions, yes?"

Alex nodded and glared in a friendly way at the two merpeople until they sighed simultaneously and climbed onto the rock with everyone else, though the mermaid still only sat at the very edge, and the merman was just slightly closer to them, but Alex was the closest, since he was, well, sort of comfortable with humans by that point. The mermaid had a vibrant dark red tail, and the merman other than Alex had a midnight blue tail. The other merman and Theodosia looked at each other, seemingly checking each other out, which was not missed by Alex, John, and the mermaid.

Alex looked incredibly surprised, as if he had never seen the merman have any emotions before, with Maria wearing practically the same one.

After a few seconds of silence, Alex intervened, "So, I'm Alexander Hamilton, though I go by Alex. This is Maria Reynolds," Alex gestured to the mermaid with the crimson tail, "and this is Aaron Burr, _sir,_ " he added cheekily, making the merman with the navy-blue tail glare at him.

John and Theodosia nodded at the introductions, and John told the merpeople, "Well, I'm Prince John Laurens, though I'd prefer to be referred to as _'Laurens'_ , and this is Theodosia Bartow," he gestured to one of his first friends, while Alex smiled at her and shook her hand.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Theodosia," Alex told her and she returned the mannerisms.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Alex. And you can call me Theo, something which _you_ have lost the right to," she glared at John, which the last part of her introduction was directed to.

Alex just grinned slyly and smirked at John, and the prince just huffed and smirked back. "We'll leave you three to get to know each other, I need to talk to Alex in private, thanks," John rushed and dragged Alex to the other end of the rock.

Maria narrowed her eyes at them, and seeing what they were trying to do, decided to help, "Uhh, I need to ask Alex and John something, so…" She then rushed to the other end of the rock as fast as she could, which wasn't really that fast, since she was like a fish out if water- oh, wait…

The three friends - since John now considered Maria a friend, just like the crimson-tailed mermaid considered the prince a friend – sat together at the other end of the rock and spoke about the glance that Burr and Theodosia had shared.

"They _totally_ like each other, you can see it in their eyes," Maria assured them, and John looked at her as if she was an alien, which wasn't really that far off from a human's perspective.

"Right, like you know anything about romance," Alex spoke what John was thinking for him, since John didn't want to offend his new friend. **(A/N: Ooooh, this rhymed! Yay! I always make a big deal out of things when they rhyme, I don't know why!)**

Maria just rolled her eyes and gestured at the two on the other end of the rock. They were slowly beginning to talk to each other, and Maria grinned victoriously, "You don't have to be a genius to tell that they like each other, don't be daft!" she whisper-shouted, so that the two they were technically spying on wouldn't know that they were being technically spied on, technically. **(A/N: This word has lost all meaning to me after reading that sentence.)**

"True," Laurens defended her, and Alex gasped and clutched his hand and placed it on the area where his heart was.

"You're taking her side? You have broken my heart, John!" he declared, and he started flopping around on the stone, pretending to cry in agony and betrayal.

Maria giggled, though it soon turned into outright laughter as Laurens began tickling Alex to see if merpeople were ticklish.

"ARGH! John! S-stop!" Alex giggled like a teenage girl in love, and literally everyone didn't miss the opportunity to shove it in his face. "JOHN!" He was squealing so much that even Theo and Burr's attention had been taken off of each other and onto the floppy merman.

"Okay, okay!" John obeyed and stopped tickling the now glaring merman. "Sorry…"

Alex' eyes softened, "Hey, it's okay. I'm sorry." Alex dragged himself over to John and gave him a hug, y'know, one of those hugs that makes you physically unable to breathe? Yeah, that's the one.

Maria, Burr, and Theodosia all awed as the two hugging babies pulled away from each other with both of their cheeks stained bright red.

"Well, now that _you two_ are done with all of the blushing and hugging and giggling like cliché lovestruck teenage girls," began Theodosia, as Alex crossed his arms and flushed like a combusting tomato, "how are mermaids-"

"' _Merpeople,'_ Theo. Don't be sexist now, "John teases his friend, and she nods at his words.

"So, where was I?" she mumbled. "Oh! Right, so, how are mer _people_ even physically possible? Like, how do you breathe, and all that."

Instead of Alex, the non-stop speaker, explaining the breathing of merpeople, it was actually the quiet Burr who spoke up to explain the question, "Hmm, well, I've never really given it much thought… Theodosia, was it? We have gills on our hips, just before our tails begin, for when we're partially out of water. We also have gills on our throat, for when we're fully emerged in the water, and it gets a lot more oxygen and energy in our system, kind of like your aerobic and anaerobic respiration, in a way."

Alex gave him a little applause, which most would interpret as sarcasm, but the merman it was directed to could sense the sincerity of Alex' applause, as he was always appreciative of words well spoken.

"Thank you, Aaron," Theo told him, and John and Alex wore matching grins, silently squealing and fangirling over the two. Their heads filled with slyness and their brains busy thinking of random meet cutes for the two obviously 'interested' people to go through. **(A/N: Wow, so many author note thingies this chapter. Anyways, a meet cute is a completely unlikely, destined to be, way for two people meet. For example, you lose your sock and some random stranger finds it and gives it back and you two end up getting married or something stupid like that (no offence to you if you met the love of your life through your otherworldly skill at losing stuff, especially socks). Just thought I'd explain to those who don't know about them.)**

Maria, though, seemed to be unaffected. Grinning, like John and Alex, she raised an eyebrow, "So, you're on a first name basis already. Wow, Burr, it took you four years for you to let me and Alex call you by your first name, and now you're just handing out the permission to use it as if it was just a bunch of rocks, and not even disgustingly slimy, worthless rocks, I mean, honestly!"

"Wait, seriously?" John interrupted, astonishment in his eyes.

Maria and Alex nodded solemnly, though they were trying to hide mischievous smirks, "The sad thing was that she wasn't even exaggerating!" Alex exclaimed, just loud enough for Burr to hear. Then he had stopped smirking, and decided to tell John some part about his past, "I had been traveling around on my own, and I came across the palace, so I decided to check it out. They were offering jobs to merpeople, so I decided to go and work there, if not for preventing my loneliness, then to have some more food and a place to stay. That was about five years ago."

Maria nodded and placed her hand on the merman's shoulder, her nails a sharp red. Merpeople had nail polish? John decided that he'd have to ask later. He could see that this was a touchy subject for Alex, and he didn't want to interfere with the story.

However, it was Maria who spoke next, "Yeah, and then you met me and Burr, and we became BFFs, duh!"

Alex giggled, and John gave him a lovestruck expression, which went missed by the merman it was directed to, though a certain crimson-tailed mermaid could clearly see the expression on the prince's face.

While Alex was distracted with getting to know Theodosia, with Burr tagging along **(A/N: For obvious reasons! ;D)** , Maria decided to confront the prince on his feelings on her friend. While she knew that Alex returned those feelings, she couldn't help being the overprotective friend who gave their romantic interests the shovel talk, though this was the first time she had ever done such a thing. "Laurens?" she asked quietly, so as not to gain the attention of the other three on the other side of the rock.

"Yeah?" he replied with confusion and curiosity present in his eyes.

"Do you mind if I just speak to you for a moment? It's about Alex," she discreetly mentioned, though she seemed to have caught his full attention.

"Uhh, yeah! Sure," he agreed, and the two made their way to the other side of the stone, away from the other three. "So, what about Alex? Is he okay? Did something happen to him or something? Or-"

"Hey, hey, he's fine! Don't you worry. But, speaking of you worrying, why _are_ you worried about someone you had just met the previous day?" she smirked and raised an eyebrow at him.

His cheeks, neck, and ears were stained with bright red, and he looked very flustered, "I-I, uh, he's… nice?" Maria didn't lower her eyebrow, and gestured for him to continue, curious about his thoughts on her best friend. "Well, I only met him yesterday, but he's so sweet and kind and adorable and I don't know what to do," he rushed very quickly, and Maria only just understood what he said.

"Oh, so you _do_ like him!" she whispered so that the others wouldn't hear, "Your being very obvious, you know."

John looked worried at the news, "Do you think he knows?"

Maria smiled at his worried expression, and shook her head, "No, but don't you _want_ him to know?"

"Well, uh, not now!" he tried to gather his thoughts before speaking again, "We've only known each other for a day, and I'm already so… addicted, I guess."

The mermaid nodded understandably and told him, "While I have no idea how you feel, I personally think that you have nothing to worry about." He looked confused so she explained, "I think Alex likes you back." He gaped at her, and she nodded rapidly, "Yes, yes, I know, wonderful information, now stop looking like an idiot!"

"Oh, sorry," he mumbled embarrassedly.

Maria rolled her eyes and suddenly became very serious, "Now, Laurens, as Alex' best friend, I am going to give you the shovel talk, so prepare to get hit repeatedly with a shovel on the backside if you ever hurt Alex in any way, physically or emotionally, got it?"

He nodded fearfully. Maria was a force to be reckoned with when she got protective or angry.

"Well then, let's go back?" she suggested, glancing to the three others on the other side of the large stone they were currently on.

John nodded again, and the two returned to the other three. John and Theodosia soon realised that they really had to leave, and Maria rolled her eyes as Theodosia and Burr suavely flirted a goodbye while Alex and John were just too adorable and awkward. Even she didn't realise how she seemed kind of upset about it, but Alex did, and while the three merpeople were swimming back to the palace, having left a few minutes prior, he asked his friend, "Hey, Maria?"

"Mmm?" she replied.

"Are you okay? You've been acting incredibly depressed, though its hidden very well, lately," he questioned her worriedly. They might not be in love, but they did love each other, almost as if they were actually brother and sister.

She stopped swimming, and adopted a confused and thoughtful expression, "You know, I don't think I even realised I was upset. I don't know why, too."

Burr, floating behind them in the glistening water, sighed and told them, "Its likely to be teenage hormones, Maria."

"But I'm older now!" she whined.

"Well, you still are a teenager, though," Alex mumbled next to her, and she elbowed him, earning Maria an _, 'Owwww. Maria!'_

Burr raised an eyebrow at the action, as he never supported violence, but she just shrugged at the expression. The merman sighed once more; only these two didn't fall for his suave words, and they weren't afraid when he was angry, which was a miracle all in itself. Maria continued to talk, "Still, this sadness feels different. I've had hormone-sadness before, and it doesn't feel like this mystery-sadness that I'm feeling now."

Alex shrugged thoughtfully and continued to swim to the palace, Maria and Burr soon following after they realised that he had swam off. He was glad that Maria was alright, but they didn't know why she was feeling this. And then, suddenly, as if the angel-merpeople were shining from above, he had an epiphany. What if she felt lonely that he and Burr had crushes? He didn't realise why she would he jealous of that, it was very stressful, but still, it was possible.

The green-tailed merman decided to keep this information to himself. Perhaps he could try and play matchmaker with her and someone else. But who?

He shook his head at these crazy thoughts as the three arrived at the palace, and snuck in. Whenever Maria would meet whoever she was meant to be with, it would happen then. Alex didn't want to interfere, and he knew deep down that only Maria could find her future partner.

 **A/N: I apologise for how long it has taken me to write this. I've lost all of my inspiration and writer's block decided to rear its ugly head. Damn writer's block.**

 **So, there you have it. A new chapter. I don't know how long it's take for me to write another chapter, just expect it to take a very long time. Thank you all for reading this story, and I hope you all understand. I'm not abandoning this story, since I don't like abandoned stories, but it will take a while for the chapters to come out.**

 **Enjoy!**


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